Scaling success: A look inside Utah’s unique partnership with Nearpod

In April 2020, Nearpod and the Utah Education Network (UEN) launched a statewide partnership, making Nearpod accessible to all of Utah’s school districts, spanning more than 1,000 K–12 schools. “The UEN is a catalyst for a lot of programs that we use, so when they get behind something, it’s almost like a celebrity endorsement,” says Andrew Clark, a Digital Teaching and Learning Specialist and Student Data Privacy Manager for Utah’s Cache County School District.

The partnership with Nearpod aims to provide “equitable access to quality education resources…to educators and students across the state,” according to Laura Hunter, UEN’s Chief Operating Officer. Though a noble goal, this is no easy task—but it’s a challenge Nearpod is uniquely equipped to meet.

“Utah goes from urban all the way to super rural, and so the needs of our state are drastically different. Nearpod can fit into every niche, which is super crucial.”

Alan Rhees, Digital Teaching and Learning Specialist, Weber School District

As a result of the UEN partnership, Nearpod usage in these districts exploded since 2021 with more than 7,000 teacher sessions and 6.5 million student sessions taking place. We spoke with education leaders from Weber, Jordan, Cache, and Alpine school districts in Utah to better understand how Nearpod has impacted teaching and learning throughout their campuses.

Nearpod in action: Enhancing engagement in every learning environment

Since 2021, Utah students have engaged with Nearpod millions of times to deepen their learning, applying knowledge in dynamic and interactive ways. With strong statewide support through the partnership with UEN, Nearpod usage has surged—particularly in places like Jordan School District, which saw growth from 10 schools using the platform in 2018 to 68 in the years since UEN and Nearpod’s partnership, a 580% increase.

“Nearpod is consistently one of the top three tools being used in our district—behind only Google and Canvas, which are integrated into everything we do. This is something that is so vital.”

Jared Covili, Digital Teaching and Learning Administrator, Jordan School District

Clark credits Nearpod with helping bridge the gap when students returned to the classroom: “Students were lacking any kind of engagement with the teacher. When we returned to in-person instruction, Nearpod gave us a platform that we could do more with.”

Student engagement depends on how the platform is utilized, a point which Jaymee Barrowes, a Digital Teaching and Learning Specialist at Weber School District, emphasizes: “If teachers find that their students aren’t engaging with Nearpod, it’s often because they are just using it as a substitute for a slideshow and they’re not really utilizing it to the fullest.”

To get the most out of Nearpod, Utah educators recommend rethinking how the tool is used—not as a digital slideshow, but as a dynamic part of instruction. “Yes, your Nearpod lesson can be a 30-slide presentation—but it’s more flexible than that,” says Ross Rogers, Jordan School District’s Digital Learning Specialist. “Use two or three slides, then throw an interactive feature in, do a quick formative assessment, and see where you’re at: Do I need to re-teach this or are we good to move forward? That’s the power of Nearpod.”

The key is tapping into Nearpod’s interactive elements to create lessons that respond in real time to student needs—transforming instruction from passive to participatory. The data backs this up—86% of Nearpod users agree that it improves in-person instruction, underscoring how deeply the platform has resonated with both teachers and students.

Empowering teachers and saving time with high-quality, ready-to-use content

Many Utah teachers turn to the Nearpod Library as a reliable, time-saving resource. With over 22,000 K–12 standards-aligned lessons, Nearpod’s lesson library offers a wide range of engaging, ready-to-use content that can be easily customized to meet specific classroom needs. “A lot of our teachers rely on the Nearpod Library—it’s quick and easy to find a topic and edit that lesson to meet their needs,” explains Monica Widdison, a Digital Teaching and Learning Specialist at Weber School District. Whether teachers are looking to address core concepts, offer enrichment, or support students who need extra help, the flexibility of the lesson library makes it an invaluable tool.

Nearpod’s content can serve as both a primary instructional resource and a strategic supplemental one. “Our teachers use the Nearpod Library to fill some of the gaps in areas that they don’t necessarily have time to prepare additional content for,” says Jared Covili, Jordan School District’s Digital Teaching and Learning Administrator. “Whether it’s extensions or interventions, they supplement with a lot of that material, which we wholly encourage.” In addition to the pre-made lessons, educators can also create their own using existing resources or AI tools, allowing for even greater personalization and responsiveness to student needs.

Leveraging formative assessments and interactive features to personalize learning

Nearpod’s suite of more than 20 formative assessment tools and dynamic media types equips Utah educators with the flexibility to create highly engaging, personalized learning experiences. These tools enable teachers to spark collaborative class discussions, gamify instruction, and give students multiple ways to demonstrate understanding. “Teachers love all the features—you can assess students so quickly,” says Widdison, emphasizing how seamlessly interactive activities like polls, quizzes, and open-ended questions integrate into daily lessons. With Nearpod, educators are empowered to tailor instruction in ways that meet students where they are—making learning more responsive, inclusive, and impactful.

Utilizing real-time data and actionable insights to guide instruction

Nearpod’s real-time insights are a game-changer for Utah educators, transforming how they understand and respond to student learning. “I tell teachers, it’s kind of like you can read your students’ minds with Nearpod,” says Barrowes. “You can see where they are and then differentiate your lesson based on what you find. That’s the beauty of Nearpod—I mean, what a powerful tool.”

The ability to receive and act on instant feedback has a significant impact on instruction for both teachers and students, allowing teachers to identify and respond to learning needs in real time. “Teachers really like being able to use insights from Nearpod to target specific learning needs during a lesson,” adds Liz Swalberg, an Innovative Learning Coach at Alpine School District. Nearpod doesn’t just inform instruction—it empowers it.

A shared commitment to student success

The relationship between Utah schools and Nearpod goes far beyond a typical vendor-client dynamic—it’s built on trust, collaboration, and shared purpose. “It’s a partnership,” says Rogers. Nearpod is more than a platform, but rather an active partner in the classroom, committed to helping teachers and students succeed.

Perhaps nothing illustrates this more clearly than the moment when Nearpod’s yearly contract with UEN was up for review. Despite its proven value, the future of the platform in Utah’s classroom wasn’t guaranteed. Covili recalls the overwhelming response: Educators and administrators rallied to defend the platform they had come to rely on. “It was such a community effort…Everyone was asking, ‘How do we make sure this doesn’t happen?’” That moment underscored just how vital Nearpod has become—not just as a piece of technology, but as an essential part of Utah’s educational fabric.

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